Grandads’ Army cycling across SA to help children who need surgery
DELORIS KOAN
They are mostly old, they are nutty but they are super fit and ready pedal 1,500km home from Monday to raise money for Eyabantwana Trust which supports child surgery at the excellent East London paediatric surgery unit serving Frere and Cecilia Makiwane hospitals.
The Grandads’ Army wants the public to chip in during 14-day Eyabantwana Heritage Ride, a veritable East Cape geriatrics’ epic which pedals from October 5-19.
Donate to Eyabantwana For the Children Trust, Nedbank account 1138181366. Back-a-ballie, every kilometre counts. Follow the ride with by getting limited number of free three-month subscriptions to the Daily Dispatch Online. To sign up, email your full name, cellphone number and email address to subs@eyabantwana.co.za.
Here are the riders and their stories:
Dr Ziphozonke Mafika, 43, has gone from a cycling newbie to a 1,500km endurance challenge racer in less than a year. The East London-based pathologist only bought his first bike in November 2024, but will line up alongside the G-Dads’ for the Heritage Ride, inspired to serve the cause.
He rides in honour of his late aunt, Vuyelwethu Mahasha.
“With October being a cancer awareness month, I will be riding for my late aunt who passed at the tender age of 42, following a long and courageous battle against breast cancer in 2020,” he said.
“I have always been inspired by my younger brother, who has been cycling for years, raising funds for education through the 1965 Ride.
“When a colleague, Dr Colleen Bamford, did the East London to Cape Town ride to raise funds for Eyabantwana Trust, I was inspired even more.
“Little did I know this would be a life-changing experience.”
A pathologist and business partner at PathCare Laboratories, Mafika describes himself as a novice, his fist big ride was the Grandad’s Army Memorial ride to Cape Town earlier this year.
On the experience, he said: “Being part of the Grandad’s Army earlier this year taught me a lot about selflessness and serving others. When this opportunity came up, it felt like a natural next step to keep building on that experience.”
His snack of choice is a banana, and his playlist “the sound of a bike chain and gear shifts”.
He said the Eyabantwana Trust teaches him that “the true measure of success of any community is in the serving of humanity.”
“I am just truly privileged to be a part of such a legacy.”
Peter-John Berlyn, 73, is a paediatrician who also keeps it simple: a banana is his snack of choice on the long road south.
He grew up in East London but now lives in Kimberley. This year he joins his brothers, Gerald and Jeremy, for the ride on his Merida, the bike that carries him on his daily training sessions, and in his head, the hymn, 10,000 Reasons, giving him strength.
He said: “The mission of the trust radiates care, compassion and improving lives and futures of children. Taking part in the Heritage Ride from Mapungubwe to East London is more than a physical journey. It is a symbolic act of building hope for tomorrow. Each kilometre will help vulnerable children have access to the healthcare and support they need.”
The ride is a moment to contribute “to building hope and harmony in SA”. On the road, he said he is most looking forward to “fellowship and interaction with other members of the team.”
His pre-ride ritual is to “check the bike, then check again”. When fatigue sets in he knows what will keep him going. “Colin and Gerald. Hope and fellowship.”
Asked to describe himself in three words, Peter-John said: “Gentle, happy, grateful.”
Andrew “Captain” Langtree, 65, says: “Joining this ride three days into retirement is just perfect timing.”
Langtree ended his career as an insurance manager on September 30.
He is known as “Captain” — the steady hand who keeps the team moving together and sets the rhythm of the road.
He has been cycling since 2008, when “a bunch of running crocks couldn’t run anymore.” In 2019, he joined the inaugural North-South ride, where the distance was shared between three teams. In the years since, he has linked up for the final days of the Heritage Ride at Aliwal North, but this will be the first time he takes on the full 1,500km.
Langtree rides three to four times a week all year round, so his training has been routine.
“I can leave tomorrow. But I will need some bike preparation, clean and lube, and check tyres.
“Maybe fit new ones. Certain other members, who shall remain nameless, should do the same.
“Puncturing in Tzaneen (1,500km from home) with a patched spare tube is no joke. True story or Grandads’ myth?” he quipped.
“I am looking forward to the physical challenge of riding 14 days without a break, which I have never done before,” he said.
“Keeping me motivated will be the camaraderie of a very special bunch of people.”
Retired educator William Hirst, 69, from Sedgefield, calling himself one of the “youngest riders” will be motivated by his more seasoned cyclists who “just get on with it”.
His second Heritage Ride, Hirst said he was convinced it would be “even more successful and more enjoyable than the previous one”.
“The camaraderie of the other riders is inspiring. I have always been impressed by their enthusiasm to be involved in a ride to raise funds for a very meaningful cause.”
“The mission of the trust radiates care, compassion and improving lives and future of children.
“Taking part in this ride is a symbolic act of building hope for tomorrow. Each kilometre will help vulnerable children have access to the healthcare and support.
“By raising funds through this ride we contribute to a legacy of better health and brighter futures for the children.”
He prepares with 100km a week of training, rides a Giant TCR Advanced, and keeps fuelled with Farbars made from dates and cranberries. His pre-ride ritual is to “lubricate the chain and check the tire pressure and we are good to go”.
Gerald Berlyn, 70, said his biggest motivation would be “trying to keep up with Colin Lazarus”.
Gerald is at the heart of the event, organiser, bike mechanic and the deejay!
He has a passion for 1960s and ‘70s music for fellow riders as they pedal across, up, down and around SA, a route epitomises “where we come from and where SA is headed”.
He has been part of the Grandads’ Army since day one, trains four times a week, mostly on familiar local roads, but for him, preparation is less about the kilometres than the cause. “The trust is a worthwhile endeavour to support.”
His bike is a well-worn 15-year-old GT, and his fuel of choice is peanut butter.
His looks forward to “the amazing company and camaraderie”. He feels reassured when the hills get excruciating that “that somehow this will make a difference in some unknown child’s life”.
James “Jimbo” Armstrong, 71, rode his organised ride in the 1990s. It was the Daily Dispatch race where he pedalled alongside his children. Thirty years later, the retired engineer is still in the saddle.
Armstrong rode to school as a boy, scraped together his first second-hand road bike in 1980, replaced it with a Raleigh from OK Bazaars a few years later, and eventually settled on the cabin-frame bike he bought in 2015, which he will ride on the Heritage journey.
He rode the first “army” ride to Cape Town and has joined every Heritage ride since.
“The route from Mapungubwe to East London has incredibly interesting site visits, some of which I saw as a child and others I have wanted to see for ages,” he said.
“Riding to raise funds for the Eyabantwana Trust makes it doubly rewarding, knowing the money is going to a good cause.”
He looks forward to the Kruger Park stop and the talks with parks staff along the way.
On the road, he loves the quiet, listening for bird calls.
Dr Colin Lazarus, 82, paediatric surgeon and co-founder of the child surgery unit, knows every twist, hill and pothole of the 1,500km route.
He has travelled it many times, with his wife Sheila, and recently, their grandchildren visiting from the US.
Together, they traced the winding roads from Limpopo back down through the Free State, updating which detours were needed for this year’s major trek.
Lazarus spent decades building up the paediatric surgical service, training generations of specialists and helping to establish a department that today treats thousands of children each year.
He has run nine Two Oceans marathons, seven Comrades, cycled 18 Cape Town Cycle Tours, and ridden every fundraising Eyabantwana ride since the beginning — six memorial rides from East London to Cape Town, and three heritage rides.
Through the years, the trust has donated more than R4m in life-saving equipment and training, and purchased its largest item to date: a flexible gastroscope worth R830,000, already in use at Frere’s dedicated paediatric surgical theatre.
Earlier in 2025, the Grandads’ Army Memorial Ride raised R550,000 towards this purchase, and the upcoming Heritage Ride aims to close the gap by raising the outstanding amount.
For Lazarus, this is the next chapter in a long line of endurance journeys, another chance to turn kilometres into children’s care.
“I think if I trained more than my usual three or four times a week, I would probably get injured.
“It’s a matter of doing what I usually do, cycling through winter, which one is not always motivated to do,” he said.
“We all know that when we finish the ride we feel fitter than when we started.”
